First Edition: April 23, 2015
Today's early morning highlights from the major news organizations.
The Associated Press:
Hello? 8M Phone Calls Unanswered As IRS Cut Taxpayer Service
The IRS' overloaded phone system hung up on more than 8 million taxpayers this filing season as the agency cut millions of dollars from taxpayer services to help pay to enforce President Barack Obama's health law. (4/22)
The Wall Street Journal's Washington Wire:
GOP Report: IRS Budget Move Plagued Tax-Filing Season
The Internal Revenue Service triggered many of the taxpayer problems that plagued the 2015 filing season by cutting $134 million from customer-service spending to pay for other activities, House Republicans said in a new report on Wednesday. ... At a hearing Wednesday of the House Ways and Means subcommittee that oversees the agency, IRS Commissioner John Koskinen acknowledged the funding shifts, but defended them as a matter of necessity, given the agency’s growing workload and shrinking budget. The IRS had major new responsibilities placed on it for the 2015 filing season, including implementation of the Obama health-care law, but was given about $346 million less for this year, on top of similar cuts in other recent years. (McKinnon, 4/22)
The Wall Street Journal:
Senate Passes Human Trafficking Bill
The Senate on Wednesday overwhelmingly approved a bill aimed at curbing sex trafficking after leaders resolved an impasse over abortion, clearing the way for a vote Thursday on confirming Loretta Lynch for attorney general. (Peterson, 4/22)
Politico:
Senate Passes Trafficking Bill, Paves Way For Loretta Lynch Vote
The unanimous 99-0 vote belied much of the drama behind the legislation, which jammed up the Senate floor amid partisan bickering over whether the bill’s restitution fund for victims should be subject to abortion restrictions. The row over social issues also obscured strong support for the measure’s core provisions aimed at combating sex slavery. (Everett, 4/22)
USA Today:
House Passes Bipartisan Cybersecurity Information-Sharing Bill
The House on Wednesday passed a bipartisan cybersecurity bill to make it easier for companies to share cyber-threat information with the government and thwart hacks by criminals, terrorists and rogue nations. It was the first action in the new Congress in response to recent high-profile cyber attacks that have included Sony Pictures, Home Depot, JPMorgan Chase, Target, Anthem health insurance, the State Department and the White House. (Kelly, 4/22)
The Wall Street Journal:
Once Cash Cows, University Hospitals Now Source Of Worry For Schools
Teaching hospitals have long been points of pride for major universities, and in recent years revenue from medical services has served as a lifeline for some schools that have struggled with falling state aid and pressure to slow tuition increases. Now the marriages between universities and their cash-cow clinical operations are starting to fray as changes stemming from the 2010 health-care law threaten to make university hospitals less profitable. (Korn, 4/22)
The Washington Post:
VA Benefits Claims Employees In Philadelphia And Oakland Say They Were ‘Demoralized’ When They Blew The Whistle On Problems
Veterans Affairs whistleblowers from two VA regional offices — Philadelphia and Oakland — told a U.S. House committee hearing that management at their benefits claims office “created a hostile work environment” that has left employees “very demoralized,” and they endured psychological abuse after they reported failures to process thousands of claims. (Wax-Thibodeaux, 4/22)
The Washington Post:
VA Clinic Substituted Mental-Health Drugs To Save Money
A Department of Veterans Affairs medical center in West Virginia put patients at risk by substituting prescribed mental-health medications with older drugs to cut costs, according to a federal investigation. The practice, exposed by an agency whistleblower, violated VA policy and created a “substantial and specific danger to public health and safety,” the department’s Office of Medical Inspector found. (Hicks, 4/23)
Center for Public Integrity/NPR:
More Whistleblowers Say Health Plans Are Gouging Medicare
Privately run Medicare plans, fresh off a lobbying victory that reversed proposed budget cuts, face new scrutiny from government investigators and whistleblowers who allege that plans have overcharged the government for years. Federal court records show at least a half dozen whistleblower lawsuits alleging billing abuses in these Medicare Advantage plans have been filed under the False Claims Act since 2010, including two that just recently surfaced. The suits have named insurers from Columbia, S.C., to Salt Lake City to Seattle, and plans which have together enrolled millions of seniors. Lawyers predict more whistleblower cases will surface. The Justice Department also is investigating Medicare risk scores. (Schulte, 4/23)
The Wall Street Journal:
Meet Pharma’s Newest Movers And Shakers
A few years ago, the drug companies dominating mergers-and-acquisitions headlines were largely household names, from Pfizer Inc. and Merck & Co. to Novartis AG. These days, a new generation of deal makers is making news, with names distinctly less familiar: Actavis PLC, Endo International PLC and Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. Within the past few weeks, two other relatively under-the-radar companies, Mylan NV and Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., also entered the fray. (Rockoff and Walker, 4/22)
The Wall Street Journal:
Novartis Begins To See Benefits Of Overhaul
Novartis AG on Thursday reported a huge rise in first-quarter profit as the proceeds of a series of transactions that overhauled the Swiss drug giant flattered its results. Basel-based Novartis said net profit attributable to shareholders rose more than four times to $13 billion in the quarter ended March 31 as the company recorded one-time gains of $12.8 billion on the sales of businesses to GlaxoSmithKline PLC and Eli Lilly and Co. Novartis reported $2.94 billion in net profit a year earlier. (Morse, 4/23)
The Wall Street Journal's Pharmalot:
Generic Drug Prices Keep Rising, But Is A Slowdown Coming?
Over the past year, prices for many generic drugs have been climbing, prompting concerns that a low-cost staple of the U.S. health care system might soon strain budgets. And two new reports indicate that prices continued to rise during the first quarter of this year, but not at the same rapid rate that was seen at times in 2014. (Silverman, 4/22)
Los Angeles Times:
Anthem Rate Hike Excessive For 170,000, Regulator Says
California's insurance commissioner criticized healthcare giant Anthem Blue Cross for imposing an "excessive" rate increase on nearly 170,000 customers statewide. Dave Jones said Wednesday that Anthem had failed to justify its 9% average rate hike that took effect April 1. Premiums are going up as much as 25% for about 4,000 policyholders. (Terhune, 4/22)
Reuters:
California Bill Ending 'Beliefs' Exemption For Childhood Vaccines Advances
California's senate education committee approved a bill making it mandatory for children to be vaccinated before starting school despite opposition from “ant-vaxxer” parents who have packed public hearings and flooded lawmakers with calls. The bill, which has already passed the senate health committee, has several more hurdles to clear before becoming law. It next goes to the senate judiciary committee, before going to the state senate, and finally the assembly. (4/22)
Los Angeles Times:
Bill Removing California Vaccine Exemptions Approved By Key Senate Panel
A bill that would require more California children to be vaccinated before they enter school passed a key Senate committee Wednesday as more than 100 parents protested that it would deprive many young people of a public education. The measure cleared the Senate Education Committee on a bipartisan 7-2 vote after its authors agreed to changes that would make it easier for parents to home-school their children if they decided against immunization. (McGreevy, 4/22)
The Washington Post:
Ethnicity Complicates Patient-Doctor Discussion Of Death
Talking about death is never easy, even for medical professionals. But a new study has found that difficulty discussing end-of-life medical treatments is complicated further when there are ethnic differences that can create subtle barriers between the doctor and patient. (Kunkle, 4/22)
The Associated Press:
NY Comptroller Faults $513 In Medicaid Payments
New York's comptroller says $513 million in improper Medicaid payments and missed revenue over four years and another $361 million in questionable transactions were identified by auditors. Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli says Medicaid, insuring nearly 6.4 million low-income New Yorkers, was found with waste throughout the system. It's projected to cost $62 billion this year, with $22.4 billion paid by the state. (4/23)